Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
Psychology first developed as a formal discipline in the late 19th century, even though its origins actually date back to ancient Greece (Wright, 2011, p.407). As philosophers began to probe the nature of the human mind, the theory of psychology and its overall acceptance in society began to evolve. As we look back at psychology's early beginnings, evidence of the emergence of several different schools of thought are revealed and their differences clearly delineated.
One of the first schools of thought to emerge was that of functionalism. Proponents of this school felt that the role of psychology was to investigate the function of consciousness, or the purpose of human thought (Wright, 2011, p.407). The functionalists wanted to understand how the mind worked rather than merely describing its contents and they focused on the motivations of mental processes and behavior (Hergenhahn, 2009, p.336). The functionalist school of thought was in direct contrast to structuralism. Structuralists believed that psychology should describe the basic elements of consciousness (Wright, 2011, p.407). The focus of structuralism inevitably became the structure of the mind and the observation...
Freud believed that people were motivated by unconscious forces and that if they were able to find a suitable outlet for these forces, they could develop a more healthy personality (Wright, 2011, p.408). Freud believed that merely discussing the mental and emotional ailments that tormented a person was enough to alleviate many of the symptoms associated with these problems. Behaviorism rejected this approach, preferring instead to focus on the direct observation of human behavior (Wright, 2011, p.409). This school encompasses the theories of conditioning in which a person associates a certain response with a given stimulus.
Humanistic psychology sought to bridge the gap between the study of the unconscious mind and behavioral psychology by focusing on a better understanding of the conscious mind (Wright, 2011, p.409). The general belief that all humans are driven to achieve their full capacity led naturally to a…
References
Wright, J.W. (Ed.) . (2011). The New York Times guide to essential knowledge (3rd ed.). New
York: St. Martin's Press.
Hergenhahn, B.R. (2009). An introduction to the history of psychology (6th ed.). Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth.
Psychology History A Brief History of Psychology The study of psychology is now deeply entrenched in our society's understand as to how a human, and specifically the human mind, functions. Understanding one's psychological needs is necessary in daily life in order to understand how to cope with various stresses and emotions. However, many decades ago, such ideas were truly visionary, as psychology was not considered a true scientific subject, and many who
The central persuasion route is an active and mindful process in the determination of the value of a persuasive argument. In the cognitive processing in The route to persuasion can be attributed to the many variables that affect the likelihood of thinking about the value of messages. One's motivation to think about issue-relevant information and the ability to do the cognitive processing has been affected by these variables. Notably, some
" (2003) in other words this is a trust based on possible rewards or possible punishment, or gains vs. losses. Over a period of time when the relationship is further tested trust evolves to 'identification-based trust which is stated to be the "highest level" of trust in that "the parties have internalized each other's desires and intentions. They understand what the other party cares about so completely that each party
History Of Social Psychology: Past and Future Directions The fields of psychology and social psychology owe their existence to the earlier philosophical thinkers including Aristotle, Plato, Descartes, Locke, Hume and Kant. However, the recognized founder of the field (by most historians) is the German scientist Wilhelm Wundt (Farr, 2003). In 1862 Wundt proposed that there psychology should consist of two branches: a social branch and a physiological branch of psychology (Farr,
A psychologically healthy person takes responsibility for his actions, whether negative or positive. The individual has distinct, inherent and unconditional worth. This means that he remains important and acceptable despite his mistakes and imperfections. And person's life is meant to achieve personal growth, self-understanding and understanding of others and the world. Happiness is possible only through self-knowledge, self-understanding and self-acceptance (Heffner). The lack of research on humanistic psychology can be
Philosophy and Psychology of the Mind and Body Throughout human history, philosophers, doctors, and most recently, psychologists, have attempted to understand the relationship between the mind and body and how it results in human beings' awareness and perception of reality. At least since the golden age of Greek philosophy, thinkers have been aware of an ostensible distinction between the mind and body, a distinction that nonetheless allows for some intermingling such